Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

*Feint - My Sunset *

"I am aware that I have entrusted you with a portion of my power, but are you sure that's how you want to use it?" The familiar figure of a man that was glowing with blinding radiance asked curiously. 

"Uhm," Raven simply nodded. "As you probably already know, Ramira is an SSS ranker, according to the system and Kayla.

"I'm almost certain that I will have to fight people that strong during my next, err adventure I guess, when I head over to the Demon Plane. You can think of this as a practice for myself since I want to control this power without being blinded by rage. 

"Previously, I've been only able to use it in a state of grave danger, maybe it's time for a change, don't you think?"

"Hm, I see." The figure sighed. "However, you must remember that you will have a very limited access in terms of intensity and duration, since as of now, you're using this power as a skill of yours," he said and Raven smiled in return.

"Uhm I am aware, anyhow, thanks for stopping by," she said as the figure waved his hand and disappeared from her mind space. Just as he did, the world got back its original hue as the intense radiance had disappeared.

Of course, only Raven and those that connected to her mind space, such as Tu and Kayla, were able to observe this strange phenomena.

'Heh, so he's interested in almost anything related to his powers,' Kayla muttered since she hadn't expected him to show up.

'Yeah, that's fine I guess, knowing that he's keeping watch, he would probably boost my powers in a real fight, just like he did previously…'

'Also, he seemed to know about your skill,' Kayla added as Raven's smile widened. 

'Ah, does it really matter though? Seeing how he didn't mind, I'm assuming it's not that bad…' 

Looking at the system message sent by Kayla, her smile turned into an excited grin.

[Apprentice of the Primordial Light: allows for manual activation of the blessing 'Radiance of the Primordial Dragon of Light'.

[Note that the blessing will have its strength and duration decreased when activated this way. 

[Current rank increase: 1 star

[Current duration: 9 seconds 

[Cool down: 9 days]

'Hm, by the way, what other ranks do you think there is out there?' Raven asked curiously.

During her recent fight against Liz, she had received the blessing: Radiance of the Primordial Dragon of Light. 

At the time she hadn't realised, but now that she looks back at it, her rank was not displayed in the common way. Instead of it being S or SS, her rank was represented in stars. 

'What was it last time, do you remember?' she asked Kayla. 'My rank under the influence of the blessing I mean.'

'Hm, I'm pretty sure it was 3 stars' Kayla shrugged. 'From my understanding, it's just an ancient way of displaying ranks, but the issue is that it was hard to find someone with such a level of power that the old system was disregarded.

'Many planets use a similar ranking system to Earth. But from the knowledge I have, it appears that each star in the ancient system was equivalent to a triple S rank.'

'Wait, does that mean that a one star ranker is a triple S ranker?' Raven asked.

'Well, not really,' Kayla shook her head. 'It is actually an increase to their original rank. So, if you gain a star with your skill, your rank will be higher than a normal SSS by your previous rank, and that usually you will be another SSS.

'You can think of it as SSS being the base, and stars start to accumulate after that. Or even you can consider the first star to be Hexa S, then the second star would be Nona S, etc.

'Hm, I see…' Raven closed her eyes as if to gather her thoughts, before smiling and opening them back again.

Seeing how excited Raven was, Kayla seemed to feel happier. 'Do you want to see your new status page now?' She had previously avoided doing so since Raven was under a lot of stress, but she seemed better now.

'Uhm, for sure,' she nodded with a smile.

[Status Page request has been received.

[Loading Status Page…

[Please note that new skills will be marked as {NEW}

[Launching Status Page...

[Race: Soul Weaver.

[Class: Royal

[Blessings: Infinity's Will. Avavia's Affection. Radiance of the Primordial Dragon of Light. The Sacred Contract of the Crimson Monarch. {NEW}

[Titles: Soul Weaver Princess. Heavenly Collector. Exorcist.

[Rank: A- {NEW}

[Energy Capacity: 990,000 EP {NEW}

[Magic Skills: 

Proficient Mana Manipulation (tier 3) - Level 3

Brilliant Primordial Radiance (tier ???) - Level ??? 

[Inherent Skills: 

Contingency Call (tier ???) - Level ???

Quick Study (tier ???) - Level ???

[Special Skills:

Dynast (tier 3) - Level 4

Breath of Life (tier 3) - Level 1

Angelic Touch (tier 2) - Level 4 (Max Level)

Demonic Touch (tier 2) - Level 4 (Max Level)

Void Ruler (tier 4) - Level 2

True Sight (tier 1) - Level 3 (Max Level)

Contract Master (tier 2) - Level 3

Change of Heart (tier 2*) - Level 3

Advanced Stealth (tier 2 - Passive+) - Level 4 (Max Level)

Soul Hunter (tier 4) - Level 3

The Elders' Scrolls (tier 3 - Passive) - Level 3

Premonition (tier 1 - Passive) - Level 3 (Max Level)

Apprentice of the Primordial Light (tier - ???) - Level ??? {NEW}

[Combination Skills:

Mana Recharge

Dark Kraken

Dusky Phoenix; Blackout

[Ultimate+ Skills:

Sorcerer of Dark Magic (Demonic Tentacles, Chains of Dark, Dark Hell, Flammable Void, Dark Lightning, Dark Mist, Soul Torment, Darkness Recharge, Master of the Night.)]

Looking at her new skills, Raven felt happy that she was slowly getting stronger. 'Every bit of power gained, is more power focused towards protecting those who I love…' she thought as she slowly felt her expression get cold.

Seeing that, Kayla frowned as her avatar started pinching Raven's cheeks. "Oi, are you good?"

"Hahaha don't blame her, you little doll," Ramira suddenly called out with a grin. "She's just not sure what life she led for her to end up against me, hahahaha!!" 

Ignoring her, Raven smiled while focusing back on the real world. While she had spent some time talking to Kayla and looking at the system messages, for everyone around her it was but a few moments that had actually passed.

"Yo, Scott, I have a small request," Raven called out to Scott who seemed concerned about the sort of damage these two will cause.

Last time he fought Tu while he was in control of her body, the fabric of space was torn apart and many innocent people died as collateral damage.

What made him even more worried was that the girl was in control this time, and he knew that her prowess had substantially increased, compared to last time.

'I am by no means inferior to Ramira, no, I could even say that with proper training on my Cosmic Inclination I'd surpass her by far.' Scott thought. 'Yet, I still lost in front of Ms. O'Bannon, what should I do?'

"Ayo~ Scott?" Raven called again.

"Huh?" He suddenly asked, clueless that she has been calling for him.

"I was wondering, is it possible to have this fight away from everyone's eyes?" She asked.

Not knowing what else to do, Scott nodded. "We have a secure area near this hall, follow me. Ms. Rogers, Axth, and the rest of the instructors, please take over for a moment, and feel free to conduct the introductions and then follow that with the practical tests."

Although disappointed that they won't get to witness the fight, the rankers nodded. The kids had similar expressions.

Camilla seemed to be the most worried but a smile from Raven let her know she got this under control.

Only Hinata didn't seem as interested since she was confident in Ramira's abilities.

Reaching the secured area, Scott sighed before shifting his attention towards both of them. "Remember that this is just a little spar that is meant to rank the individual Raven O'Bannon in her class. 

"Ramira, as the EDA official, you are expected to value the student's life above anything else. Am I making myself clear?" He asked while opening his eyes. 

They were the only three individuals in the room that he didn't mind.

"Tch, sure I'll take it easy and-"

"No need," Raven calmly interrupted. "You can come at me with all of your might." 

"Hm, I'm starting to think you're more of an idiot that a confident one, but sure I'll fulfill your wish," she grinned as her previously honey brown eyes instantly turned a darker shade as a dark armoured dress wrapped itself around her.

Flexing her two hands, thin air condensed between her fingers in the shape of dual swords that seemed sharp enough to cut one's soul.

"Ready?" She asked Raven with a monstrous grin. This was her first time ever trying to go all out, although she knew she had to hold back, the thrill was still enough to send her blood rushing in her veins.

"Ah," Raven nodded calmly as she took a second to savour the feeling her body was experiencing against someone at least three times as strong as her.

She could feel her knees weakening as the air became harder to breath. Her heart struggled to deliver the right amount of oxygen to her brain. Every part of her seemed sluggish.

But she knew that this would change the moment she activated her skill.

"On my mark," Scott said slowly, giving both of them a chance to ready up. Out of the three of them, he was the most anxious. 'Why is the girl not activating any skills? Where's her armour? Why is she just standing still? Does she want to die?' 

Many thoughts roamed his mind, but deciding to focus on preventing the fight in case Ramira decided to ignore the safety measures, he released his own aura as a barrier materialised around the room to boost its defences even further.

"Go!" 

….

Blinking twice, Scott was left flabbergasted at what he was looking at. 'Did I black out? What the hell happened? I have my Cosmic Inclination activated, how did I not see anything?'

In front of him, he saw Ramira sitting on her knees. Her face was that of horror as she wasn't able to lift her eyes off of the ground.

In front of her, a white haired girl stood with a cold expression on her face. Her iresis were glowing with brilliant white that seemed to bleach the colours out of everything else in the room.

Without realising, Scott found himself sitting on his knees as well, unable to breath.